Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stock Position Reduced by OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,221 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,192 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $5,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 4,929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.99, for a total value of $1,552,585.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,303,393.38. This trade represents a 26.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Barbara Pak sold 6,318 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total transaction of $1,988,843.22. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,192.66. This trade represents a 42.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,345 shares of company stock valued at $6,682,539 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ESS shares. Mizuho lowered their target price on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $305.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $292.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $307.16.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Essex Property Trust stock traded down $2.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $300.06. The company had a trading volume of 849,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 360,809. The company has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.00, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.90 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $292.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.60.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. This is an increase from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust's payout ratio is currently 89.08%.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.